Fern G. Z. Carr
FERN G. Z. CARR is a former lawyer, teacher and past President of both the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Project Literacy Kelowna Society. A Full Member of and former Poet-in-Residence for the League of Canadian Poets, this Pushcart Prize nominee composes and translates poetry in six languages including Mandarin Chinese. Carr has been published extensively worldwide from Finland to Mauritius and has had her work recognized by the Parliamentary Poet Laureate. Other honours include having been cited as a contributor to the Prakalpana Literary Movement in India as well as having had her work taught at West Virginia University, set to music by a Juno-nominated musician, and featured online in The Globe and Mail. Her debut poetry collection, Shards of Crystal, was released by Silver Bow Publishing in November 2018. Carr is thrilled to have one of her poems currently orbiting the planet Mars aboard NASA’S MAVEN spacecraft. www.ferngzcarr.com
Winter Solstice
Fern G. Z. Carr
(Winter, 2019)
Myriad crystals
of diamond lace
scintillate
in winter's chill –
filigrees
fluttering
onto the wings
of a black-capped chickadee
perched on a branch
of a frosted evergreen,
one foot tucked inside
downy fluffed feathers.
The arboreal meek
hold a vigil below –
a disquieting portent
of icy claws
poised
to demand ingress;
a bleak harbinger
of winter’s wrath
and a revelation that
while nature
waits in darkness
through solstice
and season’s might,
until rebirth
in the springtime
we are all asleep
in the night.